Sereno sees mutual respect with P-Noy

MANILA, Philippines - Just as President Aquino is rightfully enjoying the respect of magistrates, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said she and her office deserve the same from the Chief Executive.

“I have enormous respect for the President, and I’m sure he also respects the Office of the Chief Justice,” Sereno said in a press conference yesterday to mark her second year in office.

Sereno evaded a direct clash with Aquino in defending the Supreme Court from his relentless attacks as a result of the high court’s decision declaring certain acts under his Disbursement Acceleration Program unconstitutional.

She declined to comment on Aquino’s repeated pronouncements that the judiciary has overstepped its judicial review power and has been meddling too much in the affairs of co-equal branches.

“I do not read anything into that,” she replied when asked about the President’s sentiments.

Sereno also explained that as chief justice, she is barred from addressing questions that are political in nature.

The SC chief, however, justified the high court’s power of judicial review on acts of co-equal branches of government, citing Article VIII Section 1 of the Constitution.

“The Constitution designed the order of things and by constitutional design, the judiciary must rule as it should, even when (we) inevitably have to say what acts transgress constitutional boundaries,” she stressed.

“The repercussions are already beyond the control of the judiciary. It should not shrink from its constitutional sworn duty even if it may result to inconvenience,” Sereno added.

The Chief Justice lamented that the balance of power in government does not favor the judiciary, reiterating the high court’s appeal for a bigger budget.

“The balance of power is amorphous. Budget shows we don’t have balance of power in our favor,” she lamented, citing the less than one percent of the total national budget allocated by the executive and legislative branches to the courts.

Sereno lamented that key reform programs, including creation of more electronic courts, are being imperiled by lack of funds.

“E-courts provide for random electronic system and raffling, which remove human intermediation that makes courts prone to corruption. The problem is that the executive department deleted our request for funding of more e-courts,” she said.

Amid what she called an imbalance in power, Sereno appealed to the public to continue believing in the judiciary.

“Judiciary is strong if the people believe in it… I hope the people will work for a strong and independent judiciary,” she added.

Sereno also held a press conference last year to mark her first year, breaking from her self-imposed tradition of “dignified silence.”

Transparent

She also stressed that the SC has been transparent regarding the wealth of its justices and that lifestyle check may no longer be needed.

Sereno said she does not understand why some quarters are still pushing for transparency in the assets of magistrates when they have already publicly released their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

“Our SALN is already publicly scrutinized. What else is the reason for doubting the wealth of the justices? What information do we need to show to prove that we’re not hiding anything? I don’t understand the reason for that,” she said in Filipino.

Sereno also said that the current system of releasing SALNs is governed by guidelines issued by the SC in 2012 in the wake of the impeachment of then chief justice Renato Corona.

“This is a major improvement over the previous regime that prohibited the release of SALNs except in exceptional cases,” she said.

Sereno also revealed that the Office of Ombudsman could conduct discrete investigation, having been given the power to do so.

But the SC chief stressed that calls for lifestyle check of justices would be difficult to implement.

“The problem with that is will it be done to all officials of government or will it target just the members of the Supreme Court?” she pointed out.

Sereno also explained that such proposal would require consensus among all members of the judiciary – including magistrates in appellate courts and judges in lower courts.

“Some justices are okay with a lifestyle check, some may not be okay so you have to build consensus and every step has to be fully discussed,” she added, citing the collegial nature of the SC.

Still, she said the high court is considering other ways to further improve transparency.

“Every step has to be fully discussed. Give us a little rest, it has just been two years,” she said.

Sereno made the statement several days after the SC ruled with finality junking the request of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares for copies of the SALNs of the SC justices as well as those from the Court of Appeals and the Court of Tax Appeals.

Sereno said this should not be misconstrued as lack of transparency on the part of the SC.

In the ruling, the SC stressed that the investigative power of the tax bureau is not absolute because its authority to assess and collect taxes is limited under the National Internal Revenue Code.

The SC also said the BIR “failed to allege in particularity who she seeks to investigate” and that the bureau “had not given notice to those supposedly being investigated that they are being accused of fraud.”

The SC further explained that the provision in the NIRC used by the BIR in making the request “does not authorize the acquisition of any information or an investigation prior to an assessment of tax deficiency and that it should never be construed to authorize the conduct of a fishing expedition to hunt for any supposed tax liability.”

Meanwhile, Aquino stressed that what he is more concerned about is clipping the judiciary’s powers, particularly over political issues.

“What is judicial reach? During the time of martial law, if somebody would ask: Is martial law right? The Supreme Court would answer: It’s a political question. We’d rather not touch it,” he said in Filipino.

He said House allies and even retired SC justices have complained about what he called “judicial reach,” a power which they believe should be used “with restraint.”

However, Aquino pointed out that these days, it seems to be used quite frequently. – Delon Porcalla